Shook aligning device



April 12, 1938.

A. l. OBERMILLEYR l ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 12, 1938 UNTED Ai j Q SHOOK ALIGNING DEVICE ApplicationDecember 28, 1936,( Serial No. 117,710

3 Claims.

This invention relates to magazines from which slats or other similarelements are dispensed, the invention having particular utility in thenailing machine art.

In nailing machines of the automatic or semiautomatic type which are ingeneral use for the manufacture of boxes, box parts such as the slatsfor forming the sides and bottom of the box are placed in the machine inthe form of a stack from the bottom of which these slats are strippedone at a time as required by the machine. As the slats are placed in themagazine in small groups, the ends of the slats are generally out ofalignment in such a way that there is a tendency for the slats in thestack to bridge by binding against the downwardly converging end wallsof the magazine. Ihis bridging sometimes prevents the lowermost slatfrom being properly stripped from the magazine when its turn comes to befed into position to be assembled in a box.

It is an object of this invention to eliminate the bridgingaforementioned and thereby insure the timely stripping of slats from thelower end of the slat magazine as these are required.

Owing to the tendency of slats to bridge in a magazine where the endwalls converge downwardly slat magazines have allowed such a degree ofend play by the slats contained therein that the ends of the slats arenot aligned, when fed from the bottom end of the magazine, with theprecise planes in which they must be located when assembled with thework.

It is another object of this invention, therefore, to not only preventthe bridging of slats. in the slat magazine but to insure the locationof the ends of each slat fed from the magazine in the precise planes inwhich said ends must lie when assembled with the work to which saidslats are delivered.

I'he manner of accomplishing the foregoing objects, as Well as furtherobjects and advantages, will be made manifest in the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary cross sectional diagrammatic view of a nailingmachine of the type sho-Wn in U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,844,333 issuedFebruary 9, 1932 to E. C. Northrup on a Box machine, this iigureillustrating a preferred embodiment of the present inventionincorporated in said machine.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary rear elevational view of Fig. 1 with themechanism of the invention shown in retracted position,

Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 2 and showing the mechanism of theinvention in slat aligning position.

in referring specifically to the drawing the old elements o1" themachine shown therein will be described only insofar as is necessary toshow their cooperation with the specific structure embodying the presentinvention. Insofar as possible, however, reference to old elements ofthe machine will be made by use of the same reference characters withwhich these elements are identified in the aforesaid patent.

The nailing machine N includes a frame 2 and a nailing table I5 on whichthe work rests, this work including box ends 5 which are gripped bydiscs il so that the outer faces of the box ends are disposed, whilebeing worked upon, in a pair of precisely located vertical parallelplanes. Mounted on the frame 2 over the work is a nailing cross head 3|which carries nail drivers 6|] and nail carrying chucks I Ii, the crosshead 3| reciprocating vertically so as to nail slats on three edges ofthe box ends 5 thereby forming a box. Nails driven from the chucks I6 ineach nailing operation are driven approximately onequarter of an inchinside of the outside planes of the box ends 6. f

Supported in a magazine M on the frame 2 is a stack of slats I0 whichare adapted to be fed as required by a carriage I I into position fornailing to the box ends 6. The carriage I| is actuated by an arm I2 andcarries box end feeding lugs 'I4 and slat feeding arms 86 uponwhichareprovidedhooks El which catch onto the lowermost slat in the stack I0`as the arms 86 move horizontally to the right underneath this stack andcarry the slat engaged into place over the box ends 6. As pointed out insaid patent, suitable power mechanism is provided for coordinatelyactuating all of the elements mentioned hereinabove.

The stack lli of slats includes a multiple of series of slats each ofwhich includes four side slats Ita, two of these being placed on eachside of a pair of bottom slats Elib, the bottom slats, as shown in Fig.1, being substantially wider than the side slats. The stack I rests upona pair of channel irons |33 just inside of which the arms operate whichstrip the slats successively from the lower end of the stack lll.

The magazine M includes a back wall |3| and end walls |32 the latterconverging downwardly toward each other and being provided with cutoutrecesses |33.

The magazine M is also provided with a slat aligning mechanism |35 whichincludes a pair of bearings |36 mounted on the magazine end walls |32.These bearings rotatably support shafts lil@ on` the rear ends of whichare fixed cam arms lili and on the front ends of which arey fixedlateral slat aligning arms |42. The arms I4! are provided with cam faces|50 which are adapted to be engaged by rollers |5| mounted on posts E52which extend horizontally from the nailing cross head 3| when this crosshead descends to perform a nailing operation. The slat aligning arms |42are shaped inwardly as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 to have lower portions |60inner faces of which are brought into coincidence with the same parallelvertical planes as those in which the outer faces of the box ends 6 lieas above noted, this precise. alignment taking place each time therollers ll move downwardly with the nailing cross head 3| so as to comeinto engagement with the cam faces |50 on the arms ll as shown in Fig.3.

Vlhen the cross head 3| is lifted so that the rollers |5| do not engagethe cam faces |50 the arms Mi and |42 are held into the positions inwhich these are shown in Fig. 2 by contractile coil springs |62connected to said arms which are drawn by these springs into contactwith adjustable stop screws |63 provided on the frame 2.

A Ycomparison of Figs. 2 and 3 illustrates clearly how any bridgingeffect which might occur by endwise misalignment of successive slats orgroups of slats deposited in the stack lll is progressively eliminatedas these s lats gravitate downwardly in the magazine M by the innerfaces of the arm portions I Ell being pressed inwardly to preciselycoincide with the planes bounding the opposite ends of the work ontowhich slats are to be assembled.

With the cause of bridging thus practically eliminated the end walls |32of the magazine M may be built to converge so that their inner faces attheir lower ends also practically lie in the parallel vertical planesforming the end boundaries of the work. A feeding of the slats Illa andlilo into the precise positions necessary for them to have in order toform a perfect box is thus assured.

What I claim is:

l. In a nailing machine, the combination of: means for supporting workwith its opposite ends lying in two precisely located parallel planes;

magazine means for containing a stack of slats; means for strippingslats from the lower end of said stack in a direction at right angleswith the longitudinal axis of said stack and parallel with said planesand carrying the slats so stripped so as to overlie said work; mechanismoperating automatically and intermittently to press inwardly against theends of a portion of the slats in said stack to adjust said slats as'they gravitate downward to` bring the opposite ends of said slats intosuperimposed relation in the aforesaid parallel planes; and means fornailing said slat ends to said work when overlying the latter. Y

2. In a nailing machine the combination of: means for supporting workwith its opposite ends lying in two precisely located parallel planes;magazine means for containing aV stack of slats with the ends of saidslats approximately in said parallel planes; means for stripping slatsfrom the lower end of said stack in a direction parallel with saidplanes and carrying the slats so stripped so as to overlie said work;nailing mechanism disposed over said work andV adapted to drive nailsdownwardly just within said planes to nail said slats to said work; andmeans actuated by said nailing mechanism to intermittently pressinwardly against the ends of a portion of the slats in said stack toadjust said slats as they gravitate downward to bring the opposite endsof said slats into superimposed relation in the aforesaid parallelplanesso that when said slats are stripped from the stack and carriedinto position overlying said work, the ends of said slats are in exactvertical alignment with the ends of said work.

3. In combination: magazine means for containing a stack of slats or thelike, said means including a pair of downwardly converging end walls;means for stripping slats from the bottorn of said stack in a directionat right angles to the longitudinal axis of said stack; and mechanismintermittently operative to press inward against the ends of at least aportion of the slats in said stack to adjust said slats thus pressedEagainst so that as they gravitate downwardly they will pass freelybetween the lower portions of the aforesaid magazine end walls.

ALBERT I. OBERMILLER,

